hǔ虎tigertóu头headshé蛇snakewěi尾tail
Tiger's head, snake's tail — strong start, anticlimactic finish.
Literal meaning
tiger (虎) — head (头) — snake (蛇) — tail (尾)
Origin
A Song-dynasty phrase capturing the disappointment of something that opens with great force (the tiger's head — large, fierce) but tapers off into something weak by the end (the snake's tail — thin, retreating).
Examples
Zhè这ge个xiàng项mù目hǔ虎tóu头shé蛇wěi尾，zuì最hòu后méi没rén人guǎn管。
The project started big and faded out — no one was running it by the end.
Bié别zuò做hǔ虎tóu头shé蛇wěi尾de的shì事。
Don't start something only to drop it.
Usage & nuances
Critical tone. Common in performance reviews, project post-mortems, and parental scolding.
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